What is the difference between wells fargo and bank of america

Branches: About 4, in more than 35 states. Customer service: Available by phone Monday - Friday, 8 a. ET; Saturday - Sunday, 8 a. Back to top. But they do have excellent annual percentage yields, or APYs, that make your savings grow faster. And fees tend to be low or nonexistent. Monthly fee. You must meet one of the following requirements:. Have a primary account owner who is years old. Note: The fee is waived for eligible students under Minimum deposit to open.

ATM fees and network. Sign-up bonus. Neither checking account earns interest, but Wells Fargo's monthly fee is lower. If you plan to use direct deposit to avoid a monthly fee, note that the minimum deposit requirement at Wells Fargo is double that of Bank of America's.

Be aware that other banks charge no monthly fees with no strings attached. Set up a recurring auto-transfer from a linked account. Be a Bank of America Preferred Rewards client. Note: Students under 24 can waive the fee. Bank of America has a slight edge: a savings program.

No standard rates available online beyond one-year terms. Minimum deposit. For more details:. See our post on Wells Fargo CD rates. See our post on Bank of America CD rates. Rates may vary by location. Both banks have very low CD rates compared with national averages.

Rates may also vary by ZIP code. About 5, in nearly 40 states and Washington, D. It comes with an extensive list of additional benefits that include interest earnings, fee waivers for many bank services, and fee for using non-Wells Fargo ATMs. With larger balance tiers, the account will even provide rate discounts on Wells Fargo loans, ATM fee refunds, credit card bonus rewards, and more.

Generally, the options offered by the two big banks are very similar, especially if you're considering just a basic checking account. Either entry-level checking account from Bank of America and Wells Fargo will do just fine.

Wells Fargo offers a couple premium banking account options while Bank of America offers the one extra interest-checking option. However, Bank of America has a Preferred Rewards program that allows all checking account customers to gain more benefits based on their increased relationship with the bank -- essentially, the more deposits in Bank of America accounts, the more benefits. These benefits are similar to what you'd get with the premium Wells Fargo checking accounts.

What your choice ultimately comes down to is your unique financial situation. How much money do you plan to keep with the bank? Then, you can see which account offers the most benefits while you're still able to avoid the monthly fees. Furthermore, you should consider the proximity of the branches and ATMs to your home and places that you frequently visit.

Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the offers appearing on this site are from advertisers from which this website receives compensation for being listed here. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. These offers do not represent all account options available.

Editorial Disclosure: This content is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. This site may be compensated through the bank advertiser Affiliate Program. User Generated Content Disclosure: These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Each account charges a monthly fee with the exact amount depending on the specific account. You can also often waive a monthly service fee by meeting certain requirements like a minimum account balance or setting up direct deposits.

This includes fees for overdrafts, insufficient funds, out-of-network ATM transactions and more. As big banks, neither Wells Fargo nor Bank of America offer very special interest rates. You can find many of the best rates in the industry with online banks like Ally Bank. You can, however, boost your rate here with more premium banking packages.

Wells Fargo offers three kinds of account types, each with decent rates for its balance tiers. You can also potentially earn bonus rates up to 1. Wells Fargo opened its first branch in San Francisco in amid the California gold rush. Like Bank of America, it has grown into a global bank. Today, it operates around 7, locations and approximately 13, ATMs that serve about 70 million customers. Bank of America and Wells Fargo provide multiple options for checking, savings, certificates of deposit and accounts for children.

Also, checking and savings accounts come with monthly maintenance fees in most cases. Check out the best accounts to help you save money and reach your financial goals! Bank of America: Standard Term, Featured accounts available.

The interest rates offered by both banks will likely not incentivize saving by themselves. Nonetheless, knowing such rates, particularly with higher-paying CDs, can often help in the decision-making process. Both banks charge fees for a wide array of services. However, the account maintenance fees and the overdraft fees are the ones that are likely to affect some customers on a frequent basis.

Bank of America offers overdraft protection for all accounts except the Advantage SafeBalance checking account. As mentioned before, both banks will charge a maintenance fee on both savings and checking accounts. However, customers can get that fee waived in most cases. Both banks will waive these fees if depositors maintain a minimum balance, receive direct deposits, or link the account to other accounts at the same bank.

Bank of America also waives such fees for enrollment in its Preferred Rewards program. From a banking perspective, the two financial institutions offer relatively little in the way of differentiation.

Both offer extremely low interest rates along with options to avoid most fees. Hence, the question of Bank of America vs.